FYI: Northern Pass High Voltage Transmission Project

jniehof said:

I've been getting hammered by banner ads claiming that Northern Pass will save the NH economy. They are not going gently on this one.

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Interesting. I have been getting ads saying the opposite. About how people from Mass love NH's views and to help oppose northern pass. The opposition isn't too quiet either.

A fairly influential north country writer, John Harrgan, has come out swinging against the potential compromise of burying the line.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/12816288-95/my-turn-bury-northern-pass-only-if-bury-means-kill

I don't get the same impression, to me as far as he is concerned he will support no compromise. I do agree if PSNH elects to install a buried line in the current gerrymandered right of way similar to the PNGTS or Portland Pipeline I would oppose it but the DOE alternatives presented are to bury the line along existing ROWs, thus avoiding the strip cuts that to me are as ugly as the towers themselves. Unfortunately I believe that any option that runs along a state road will require taking additional right of way from adjacent landowners as I expect the current ROWs are not wide enough. This is not the case for railroad right of ways or the interstate but definitely would be an issue if the route is along the Franconia parkway.

News of a far less controversial proposal

http://digital.vpr.net/post/regulators-approve-lake-champlain-transmission-line

Funny how putting the line under water or burying it has really cut down on the controversy. When I do a quick search on web I cant even find an opposition. Hmm I wonder if PSNH is going to come to the same conclusion?

peakbagger said:

Funny how putting the line under water or burying it has really cut down on the controversy. When I do a quick search on web I cant even find an opposition. Hmm I wonder if PSNH is going to come to the same conclusion?

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Doubtful without helpful law changes.

Putting the line in transportation corridors or under water means that have no need for a lot of ROW which nobody thinks they can sell for anything like what they paid. The invested sums may be small compared to the construction cost but are large if not included in the rate base and stockholders have to eat them. A similar thing happened when Seabrook was under construction - once the no-CWIP law was passed they had to finish the plant because even though the power was uneconomical they could pass the costs on to consumers.

On the other hand, once Rockefeller interests proposed to raise the existing decrepit dam at Sewalls Falls in Concord and install generators to produce electricity, they didn't even own the site but under power law the first applicant can take it by eminent domain. Unfortunately the dam washed out in a flood before they got a permit and exposed prime trout waters which environmentalists vowed to preserve. Either to save the state expensive litigation or to buy off the rich who never lose out, the legislature voted to pay the applicants not to build a dam they couldn't get a permit for on land they didn't own. Will the state either buy the PSNH ROW at their cost or allow it to be added to stranded costs?

PS - PSNH former president Gary Long just died "unexpectedly", wonder if his demotion really involved poor health.

Senator Ayotte weighs in

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140828/NEWS05/140828903

NHPR has a set of three articles on Northern Pass and new englands energy future. Its not pro or con but provides good background

http://nhpr.org/post/special-series-northern-pass-debate-new-englands-energy-future

Do I detect a blink ?

http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/...ury-more-transmission-lines-but-how-much-more

Of course the game will be how far the folks in southern NH are wiling to throw the north country under the bus.

peakbagger; said:

Of course the game will be how far the folks in southern NH are wiling to throw the north country under the bus.

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How big a bus you got?

More seriously, I don't see how this improves my life one bit, and I suspect the notional benefits may be more Merrimack Valley than Seacoast. The whole shuffle sure doesn't sound like it's going to put PSNH in a position to lower my bill. It's like $30/mo anyhow; I wouldn't mind paying more for a good "green" option, but PSNH ditched that and I suspect it would encourage developments like Northern Pass.

I'm a little uncomfortable about the attention shifting to burying vs., well, burying (i.e. with a stake through the heart), since (as the article rightly points out), there's still impact. Maybe that's a strategic way to kill it with cost. The whole project smells more like checking off a box on a form rather than creating a more sustainable and secure grid. This energiewende thing is tough.

There are several potential alarm points in the article. One that didn't get a lot of attention is having PSNH supply NH customers. This sounds like a feel good thing, but once the NH ratepayer is involved, PSNH can most likely get eminent domain rights back. The timing of the announcement is also lined up so that when New England Power rates skyrocket this winter due to natural gas shortages, PSNH is going to be able to say that they are protecting the NH customer by finding an alternative to natural gas generation. Currently all of the utilities in NH except PSNH are asking for 50% increases in their generation rates.

Some of the DOEs proposed alignments using existing railroad beds and highway medians seem to be fairly non obtrusive but PSNH is fighting them as they are planning a revenue stream for long leasing of right of ways controlled by them that the ratepayer bought (but the payments will go towards their corporate parent). Neat concept, effectively rent out property that someone else bought and not pay them a dime.

The best "green" option for PSNH customers is to install grid tied solar. The only power bill I have had for several years is the base transmission and distribution rate. The solar rate class has been modified now where a bunch of neighbors can pool together and build a local solar power system on a vacant lot and all can share in the benefits.

An " interesting" letter in the Monitor...

http://mobile.concordmonitor.com/ho...osts-to-ratepayers-pile-up-but-whos-listening

I expect New England is going to be experiencing this on a more frequent basis as we shut down local generation for power that is produced hundreds if not thousands of miles away.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/...n=nhbr&utm_content=NHBR+Business+News+Browser

Top Two Executives Resign from Hydro Quebec

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/02/03/hydro-quebec-rocked-by-resignations-amid-smart-meter-flap

CEO, second in command, and a third high ranking official at HQ resign.

This is an interesting occurrence even if the resignations had nothing to do with the Northern Pass project. A change in the top two positions at Hydro Quebec may have an effect on the direction of Northern Pass.

My understanding of the process to add Canadian Hydro to the RPS provides access to eminent domain as it becomes a public benefit project to NH ratepayers where previously it wasn't. It does not change the ongoing requests by the DOE to look at alternative routings but would speed things up substantially. It also wouldn't directly impact the not even started attempt to modify the WMNF special use permit.

The utilities of NH (mostly PSNH) have downplayed other sources of renewables. The rate paid for NH SRECs for solar electric production has been kept artificially low well under the regional rate as the utilities have stated that solar doesn't work in NH. Considering I and others in the north country have not had a bill for power (I still pay a flat rate for service) for several years due to self generation, there is flaw in the reasoning. Solar is so popular in the NH Electric Coop territory that they have exceeded the allowable percentage of solar power production. There currently is some action to review the SRECS program with the NHPUC but I suspect that the well funded utilities will subvert the process like they have in the past. The controversial wind farms in NH sell their power to other states as the SRECs are far more attractive. As an example the few SRECs I generate would sell for about 5 times more in Mass than I receive in NH.

Unfortunately, unless there is a well funded organization with legal expertise acting as opposition to the process, the many ongoing processes used to subvert the public intent are not something that an interested individual can effectively keep track of. NH government (as well as most government) tends to be oriented to well funded businesses being able to afford to buy their way into the process while few individuals would be.

There's a maximum allowable percentage of solar power production?!?

The NH net metering rate only applies to 1% of the of the power supplied by a utility. Once the utility has sourced 1% of its power from local renewable, the net metering rate doesn't apply and without net metering, the economics are not great.

Eversource (PSNH) is still decidedly optimistic about Northern Pass while Wall Street isn't

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150216/NEWS05/150219283

There are indications that some sort of grand political deal is being brokered in the background to wrap up a lot of major issues with Eversource including the 200 million dollar overrun at the Bow power plant, the sale of PSNHs generation assets and Northern Pass. SPNHF has been particularly quiet of late as well as other high profile opponents of the Pass, this could mean one of two things, they are in on the behind closed door dealing or they are keeping their powder dry in anticipation of the Draft EIS release. Strangely no one seems to be concerned about the impact of the timeline to the modification of the special use right of way across the whites.

There were also a couple of odd land transfers in Dalton, Bethlehem and North Woodstock during recent months. Article here: http://www.pdf.investintech.com/preview/70bf1d46-a88d-11e4-b807-002590d31986/index.html

Major news Eversource (PSNH) is selling off all their power plants. Its likely that their coal plants will have no buyers which will cut down the amount of instate generation. I expect that they will do a full court press to get northern pass listed as a benefit to NH ratepayers so they can get eminent domain rights. It still doesn't solve their DOE or WMNF issues.

PSNH used to be the support for many town projects, they have gained the favors of many local and regional politicians in the past, this is just an extension of a long running policy. A fairly subtle point is that many of the monetary supporters of the anti Northern Pass movement are landowners and not necessarily residents of the towns they own land in, therefore to a town selectman, their opinion is far less important than to someone who votes and shows up at the yearly town meeting. Thus funding handed to towns with or without strings attached may be viewed differently by a resident struggling to pay their tax bill versus a non resident landowner who is opposed to the project.